May 31 in LGBTQ History

1718: The death penalty for “sodomy and buggery” is instituted in Pennsylvania, bringing Pennsylvania into conformity with English statute and common law. The law remained in effect until 1786 when, after the Revolution, Pennsylvania legislators were the first to revoke the death penalty for sodomy.

1982: AIDS makes the front page for first time in a Los Angeles Times story entitled, “Mysterious Fever Now an Epidemic.”

1985: Rejecting a grant application from the AIDS Foundation of Houston, the United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast announces it will “not fund AIDS-related projects.”

2012: The U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, strikes down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional.